Thirty-six teams are chosen to fill “at-large berths” to compete by the committee, which ranks all 68 teams and brackets them, the NCAA says. The other 32 teams are conference tournament champions who get automatic spots to play.

The March Madness Selection Show revealed which teams got at-large spots: they include the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Arizona State Sun Devils, the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Auburn Tigers, the Butler Bulldogs, the Clemson Tigers, the Creighton Bluejays, the Duke Blue Devils, the Florida Gators and the Florida State Seminoles.

The Houston Cougars, the Kansas State Wildcats, the Miami Hurricanes, the Michigan State Spartans, the Missouri Tigers, the NC State Wolfpack, the Nevada Wolf Pack, the North Carolina Tar Heels, the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Oklahoma Sooners also all received at-large bids.

The Providence Friars, the Purdue Boilermakers, the Rhode Island Rams, the Seton Hall Pirates, the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, the Syracuse Orange, the TCU Horned Frogs, the Tennessee Volunteers, the Texas Longhorns, the Texas A&M Aggies, the Texas Tech Red Raiders, the UCLA Bruins, the Virginia Tech Hokies, the West Virginia Mountaineers, the Wichita State Shockers and the Xavier Musketeers round out the teams with at-large bids.

Virginia was named the overall No. 1 seed for this year’s competition.

March 13 and 14

“The last four at-large teams on the overall seed list, as well as teams seeded 65 through 68, compete in the First Four games,” according to the NCAA.

The four winning teams advance to the first round of the tournament.

On March 13, he Radford Highlanders defeated the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds, and the St. Bonaventure Bonnies beat the UCLA Bruins.

The March 14 games included the Texas Southern Tigers beating the North Carolina Central State Eagles and the Syracuse Orange defeating the Arizona State Sun Devils.

March 15 and 16

Sixty-four teams competed in first-round games in Boise, Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, Nashville, Pittsburgh, San Diego and Wichita to advance to the next stage.

On March 16, the University of Maryland-Baltimore County became the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in the history of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, upsetting Virginia 74-54.

March 17 and 18

Thirty-two teams battled it out in second-round games.

In one of the March 18 games, the Texas A&M Aggies defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels -- the defending NCAA men's basketball champions -- 86-65 in Charlotte.

March 22 and March 23

Teams competed in the Sweet 16 round, which included eight regional semifinal games in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles and Omaha.

The Duke Blue Devils, the Clemson Tigers, the Florida State Seminoles, the Gonzaga Bulldogs, the Kansas Jayhawks, the Kansas State Wildcats, the Kentucky Wildcats and the Loyola Ramblers all reached this stage.

The Michigan Wolverines, the Nevada Wolf Pack, the Purdue Boilermakers, the Texas A&M Aggies, the Texas Tech Red Raiders, the Villanova Wildcats, the West Virginia Mountaineers, and the Syracuse Orange also made the cut.

March 24 and March 25

The Elite 8 round consisted of regional finals in those same four cities, with four winning teams heading to the next stage.

On March 24, the Loyola Ramblers defeated the Kansas State Wildcats and the Michigan Wolverines beat the Florida State Seminoles.

On March 25, the Villanova Wildcats beat the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and the Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Duke Blue Devils.

March 31

The Final Four round consisted of two games in San Antonio: the Michigan Wolverines defeated the Loyola Ramblers and the Villanova Wildcats beat the Kansas Jayhawks.

April 2

The Michigan Wolverines and the Villanova Wildcats will duke it out in San Antonio for the national title.

Which teams received automatic bids to compete?

Thirty-two teams won conference tournaments, making them automatic qualifiers. Those included the Arizona Wildcats, the Bucknell Bison, the Buffalo Bulls, the Cal State Fullerton Titans, the Charleston Cougars, the Cincinnati Bearcats, the Davidson Wildcats, the Georgia State Panthers, the Gonzaga Bulldogs, the Iona Gaels, the Kansas Jayhawks and the Kentucky Wildcats.

The Lipscomb Bisons, the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds, the Loyola Ramblers, the Marshall Thundering Herd, the Michigan Wolverines, the Montana Grizzlies, the Murray State Racers, the North Carolina Central Eagles, the New Mexico State Aggies and the Penn Quakers also received automatic bids.

The Radford Highlanders, the San Diego State Aztecs, the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, the Texas Southern Tigers, the UMBC Retrievers, the UNC-Greensboro Spartans, the Villanova Wildcats, the Virginia Cavaliers and the Wright State Raiders garnered automatic bids, too.

How can I watch March Madness games?

North Carolina clinched its sixth national title in basketball in 2017. This year, the team was knocked out during the second round of the tournament, losing to Texas A&M.
(Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports)